The 31-year-old was our most senior player in action in the game and he has had good days as well as bad ones against Pep Guardiola’s side previously. In our latest encounter he came close to scoring before N’Golo Kante did give us the lead, but two City goals before the break opened up a half-time deficit which we could not overturn in the second half.

‘I think it was a great game,’ was the Willian verdict overall. ‘Before we conceded a goal we were in total control of the game. We were confident and I thought we played well the whole game.

‘We created some chances and we could have scored two or three goals but we know it is always difficult to play here against City, they have a great team so I think we have to stay with our heads up and move on to the next one.'

Although Kante’s goal came in a losing cause, Willian did have praise for the influence of the Frenchman who was playing only his second Chelsea game since returning from injury.‘He played well. He was in control in midfield with Jorginho and Kovacic. They all played well and I think we deserved a better result but City have a very strong team. Now we need to carry on and forget this game and move on to the next one.’That next match comes on Wednesday night away in Spain against Valencia, where a win would guarantee a place in the Champions League knockout stage.‘That will be a difficult game as well,’ Willian acknowledged. ‘We have to go there with the same mentality and try to win this game.’

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